Managing long-term sickness absence

The Odyssey is the big summer blockbuster at the movies. But did you know that Odysseus once “pulled a sickie” in an attempt to get out of the Trojan war?

His feigned madness included sowing salt instead of seeds and ploughing erratically.

In perhaps the first recorded “HR investigation” Palamedes placed Odysseus’s infant child in harm’s way before the plough, and observed as Odysseus revealed his true mental faculty and swerved his son.

That kind of thing is certainly not in Acas’s code of conduct! But it shows that absence management is as old as time.

What is long-term sickness absence?

There is not a set legal definition of long-term sickness absence. However, several weeks of consecutive absence is often what triggers a formal management process. Four weeks is a popular trigger.

Neither is there a set list of conditions that are considered qualifying for long-term sickness absence. Some may be considered a disability so care must be taken at all times.

Clarity of your internal process is essential.

Laying good absence management foundations

Before you even consider long-term sickness absence, it is important to have robust regular absence management procedures. We’ve talked about this a lot recently, discussing things like having HR software to monitor all types of absence; your sickness absence notification rules; and return to work interviews.

Ensuring you manage all this correctly will help you respond sooner when it looks as if someone is off for the long term, and also that you are keeping appropriate records from the start.

Your long-term absence trigger

Let’s take “four weeks” as your trigger.

That’s a fair amount of time, so by this stage, as a matter of course you should have maintained a balanced level of communication with the employee. There is a line to tread here – enough to show you care and support a return to work earlier, if possible; but not overstepping into intrusiveness.

You would in this period expect to have a fit note giving professional medical confirmation that there is a problem (they are required after seven days of absence), and to ensure that you are paying sick pay correctly at the statutory or contractual level.

A review of these points at this stage is helpful to ensure that everything is in order so far.

The long-term approach

Bringing in the expertise of an occupational health professional is a sensible step. Unless there is a contractual right you will need their consent to this. For the occupational health, to share medical information, an Access to Medical Health form must be signed.

Not only will they be able to advise on the likely timeframe and manner of the return to work (for example phased). But their involvement also sends a strong signal of evidence-led decision-making – essential to you if your handling of a case is challenged.

We mentioned disability as a legal risk when managing long-term sickness absence. As well as equality law, health and safety law, statutory sick pay legislation and GDPR (medical information is a special category) may all be relevant too.

Reasonable adjustments, especially where disability is a factor, need to be explored. It is another thing that an occupational health professional can help with.

Cost, practicality, effectiveness, health and safety and disruption will all be measures of whether an adjustment is reasonable. In an SME context, where resources will be more limited than at a larger company, they may each be felt more acutely raising the threshold of whether they are reasonable or not.

That said, reasonable adjustments may include achievable actions like a phased return to work, provision of equipment or workplace adaptations, changes to duties or targets among many other things.

Options for dismissal

If the attendance issues continue after you’ve explored all the options fairly, your thoughts may move to dismissal.

This would be done under capability – they are no longer able to do the job. There will be legal risk associated with this and we would advise you contact us to help you make an informed decision and follow the correct process.

Your starting point here will be ensuring you have the latest medical evidence, a clear understanding of the prognosis, have already considered reasonable adjustments and alternative solutions as well as consulting in a meaningful way with the employee.

Get expert help

There is no doubt that managing long-term sickness absence can be one of the most stressful situations an SME owner or manager finds themselves in, with all kinds of pressures brought to bear. If you need help at any stage of the process, please contact us – but with so much to consider and get right, the sooner the better.